In 2021, photographer and writer, Johny Pitts, and poet Roger Robinson travelled around the British coast in search of an answer to the question 'what is Black Britain?' Their collaboration became Home is Not a Place - coming to The Photographers’ Gallery this June.
Travelling in a red Mini Cooper, Pitts and Robinson’s circumnavigation encompassed the coastal, urban, rural and suburban, via the places in-between. Following the coast clockwise, together they set out to document and respond to the many manifestations of Black British culture, and to present an alternative to official and media narratives.
A bespoke ‘welcome table’ in the gallery will be a focal point for visitors to flick through Pitts’ family photo album, chat and exchange ideas. Essentially Pitts invites you to come in, take a seat and feel right at home - and experience what home means to him. For the first time, the exhibition includes work from Pitts’ ever-growing Japan series - Sequel to a dream: Ghosts of 1980s Japan. Pitts lived in Japan as a child in the late 1980s and his time there has directly influenced his prolific habit of collecting photography ephemera and technology.
Pitts has built upon his ‘Afropean Archive’ of over 100,000 images documenting the Black experience in Europe. His images which form Home is Not a Place reflect upon the complexity and resilience of Black Britishness at this particular point of time.
Home is Not a Place is a touring exhibition and the he book Home is Not a Place, which combines Pitts' photographs with poems by Roger Robinson, was published by Harper Collins UK in September 2022
Johny Pitts: Home is Not a Place: 23 June – 24 September 2023
Further Information: Homepage | The Photographers Gallery